


Little Lost Lizard

by tryslora



Series: Tumblr S4 Prompts [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Episode: s04e01, Gen, Kanima Jackson Whittemore, Post-Episode: s04e01 The Dark Moon, Rescue, Road Trips, Tumblr Prompt, Werewolf Jackson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 21:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1913826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryslora/pseuds/tryslora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Calaveras are telling the truth when they say they don't have Derek Hale. The problem is, Stiles can hear between those words and knows that they've got <i>someone</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Lost Lizard

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a prompt by preston-hellrune on tumblr: _Prompt, NC-17, Angst with a happy ending? Turns out, the kidnappers just don't have Derek, they also have a certain blonde haired blue eye'd jackass. How do people respond? Do they leave him out to dry Malia style or try to save him as well? I'd also love some Hurt!Jackson trying to be smug and a jerk, but epic failing and being kind of adorable in a tiny dragon sort of way. Thank you. <3_
> 
> Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get it to NC-17 and it ended up being Gen and having a few open ends left dangling after the story. On the other hand, I had an absolute blast playing Stiles and Jackson and Lydia off of each other, with some added in pointed comments from the other, so this was so much fun to write! I hope it works for the prompt.
> 
> As always, I do not own the characters or world of Teen Wolf, but I do love to play with them.

“They don’t have Derek.” Scott’s voice is low, and Stiles is only half-listening. He’s got the point already, but there’s something not quite right about it, like it’s not the whole story. He hears the rest of the conversation, even participates when he needs to, automatically coaching Malia into being a person rather than a coyote, but his mind is somewhere else entirely. 

She sniffs in close to him, coming into his personal space. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Hm?” Stiles looks up, the words coming before he even realizes that he knows what he’s going to say. “They don’t have Derek, but they have someone.”

“Then we don’t care,” Malia says. “Whoever they have, it’s not a friend. You said we have to stay with our friends.”

She has a point; Stiles hasn’t exactly expected her to care about strangers. He figures baby steps are the way to get her solidly into humanity, and friends are easier to accept than kindness to unknown people. But this… this is different.

“They’re hunters,” he says plainly. “Whoever they have, they don’t want us to know about it. Which means it’s important, either to them or to us. And we need to rescue them. We can’t just leave whoever it is to be tortured by the hunters.”

“What about Derek?”

She has a point, and when Stiles looks up, Scott is looking at him, waiting for him to say something. Anything. “We stick with the plan for now,” Stiles says quietly. “And as soon as we find out where Derek is, we’ll figure out a new plan then. We’re kind of stuck at the moment, as it is.”

“Maybe we can find out who it is,” Scott says. “Rescue them at the same time.”

“Yeah.” Except Stiles doesn’t think it’s going to be that easy. After all, it never is.

#

“Do they want Derek or do they want Kate? What is it that they’re looking for?” Stiles is working it over in his head as he drives, trying to figure it out. “Kate has Derek, and they’re willing to send us after her to get him back. Which means they’re letting us go into the den of one monster to get another free. Why? Why are the hunters helping us? Kate’s unique, right? Some kind of were…” He stops speaking and looks up at the rear-view mirror, where Lydia stares back at him.

“We’re going into some kind of were-jaguar place, right?” Stiles says quietly. “Do you remember what the definition of a kanima was?”

“In Jackson’s case, a lizard,” Lydia says dryly. “But officially, it referred to a South American were of the jaguar variety.”

“Which means Kate and Jackson have something in common.”

“You think the hunters have Jackson?” Lydia’s lips purse. “I don’t like this way of thinking, Stiles.”

“I don’t think they do, I’m sure of it.”

“Who’s Jackson?” Malia asks. “And do we need him?”

Stiles sighs, fingers tight on the wheel. “He’s a friend, Malia. A jackass, yes, but a friend. So yes, we do need him.”

Lydia’s smile thins. “And if we don’t go get him, I am going to cry the entire way home. So please reconsider your idea of leaving him behind.”

Malia scowls. “Tears are a weakness. I don’t like them.”

“Then don’t make me do it.”

“It’s my Jeep, and we’re not going anywhere without my say-so,” Stiles points out. “I say we’re rescuing Jackson, so that’s it. We’re rescuing Jackson.”

“Um. I hate to be the point of reason, but…” Kira raises her hand. “How are we going to fit seven people in this car? I haven’t even figured out how you planned to get Derek back to California.”

Stiles sighs. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Maybe we’ll rent a car or something. I don’t know.”

Because they aren’t suspicious enough looking crossing the border as it is. But they _have_ to figure it out; they aren’t going to leave any pack members behind.

#

Derek being a teenager is kind of a surprise. Stiles doesn’t know what to do with him, and worse yet, Derek collapses into unconsciousness the second they get him in the car.

“It does make it easier, if we carry him like luggage,” Kira points out, once the girls have Derek across their laps in the back. “Even if it’s illegal.”

“I talked to Braeden and she’ll take me back,” Scott has. “She’s got a second helmet, I like motorcycles, it’s all good. You guys just need to tell the border guards that your friend is sleeping… maybe everyone should pretend to sleep or something, except Stiles.”

“What about Jackson?” Malia asks.

“I was getting to that,” Stiles says with a sigh, because Malia takes everything far too literally and has no sense of timing whatsoever.

Or maybe she does, and it’s her way of injecting chaos. Coyotes are chaos creatures, right? Like they really need that, with a fox already in the pack.

“Jackson?” Scott asks.

“It came up after the Jeep broke down and you left with Braeden, after we got it moving again,” Stiles says. “A kanima is technically a were-jaguar, which means Jackson has something in common with Kate. The hunters are overly interested in Kate, therefore, we think the person they have captured is probably Jackson. Because something’s off, and they weren’t surprised to see us. Plus, it’d be just our luck to have to rescue our favorite asshole.” He glances at the unconscious body of Derek Hale. “Second favorite asshole? No, Derek’s just sour… Jackson’s a much bigger dickwad.”

“So we’re going back into the hunter’s lair?” Scott glances at Braeden, who shakes her head.

“You go on in, but I’m done with this job, and I don’t think you guys can afford me.” Braeden leans back against her bike. “I’m willing to stand by my offer to drive Scott back, but I’m not fighting the Calaveras. That’s all you.”

“I’ll take it.” Stiles pushes the passenger door open. “Get in, Scott. It’s going to be tight, but if this is how it works until we’re done, we’ll do it.”

“What are we going to do when we get there?” Kira asks from the back seat.

“We’ll figure that out then,” Stiles tells her, and tries not to think about how he has _no idea_.

Lydia sighs. “I take back what I said earlier. _This_ is now officially our worst plan ever, and I honestly don’t think you could get worse than this. Congratulations, Stiles, you have hit rock bottom.”

#

Stiles can’t argue that the plan sucks. It _really_ sucks. It isn’t so much a plan as a set of marching orders. Scott will go back in to talk to the Calaveras and avoid giving them the tidbit of information that Derek is now a teenager again. Braeden—for the special price of a future favor, which Stiles really regrets saying he’d pay—will be staying in the car to protect Derek. Malia and Kira are bracketing Scott as his polite (sort of) muscle. And Stiles and Lydia will sneak in and find Jackson, who has to be somewhere around where they were held before.

“It’s a bad plan,” Malia says flatly. “Stiles, I should go with you.”

“No, you should stay with Scott. I need you to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.” Stiles nudges her toward Scott and Kira. “Not to mention keeping an eye on our badass but innocent kitsune. If you three are together, I can rest assured I’ll get you all back in one piece. Okay?”

Really, he doesn’t want Malia anywhere near Jackson. He doesn’t know what they’re going to find, but he doesn’t want to be trying to deal with introductions and explanations at the same time. It’s bad enough that they’ve already got a teenage version of their adult friend in the car.

She makes a face, curling one lip before she finally agrees, “Fine.”

It’s a small victory, but it’s a victory at least.

Stiles and Lydia are leaning against the hood of the Jeep as the three shapeshifters walk away. “This sounds like a bad joke,” Lydia muses. “A coyote, a wolf, and a fox walk into a bar…”

“A human and a banshee go hunting in a dungeon,” Stiles counters, and Lydia goes silent.

“There are ghosts down there,” she whispers after a long moment. “I heard their murmurs before, but none of them were loud enough to hear clearly.”

“Then Jackson’s still alive. If he were dead, he’d never stop complaining, and he’d make sure you knew he was upset.”

Her smile is shaky. “Yes, yes he would.”

Stiles holds out his hand palm up, fingers slightly spread. He waits for her to fits her hand to his, weaving their fingers together. “Let’s go get him, then.”

#

It’s… easy.

Too easy.

Stiles and Lydia make their way into the basement space where they were held before, the guards all occupied by the shapeshifter invasion upstairs. Neither of them has a nose to follow, but they pass by the spaces they’ve already seen, going deeper into the basement, where it’s dark and dreary and there’s a faint stench of human body odor.

“He’s not a guest,” Lydia says quietly.

“I didn’t think he would be. Prisoners usually don’t get to keep up with Jackson’s usual level of cleanliness.” Stiles tries for dry humor, but he has a feeling he fails. He doesn’t even  _like_ Jackson, but here they are, and he’s rescuing Lydia’s ex-boyfriend and isn’t life complicated now?

They find him in a small room, curled on the floor, no shackles, but he’s shivering as if he’s freezing. He rolls over as soon as the door opens, eyes flashing blue and fangs bared.

“Jackson!” Lydia darts past Stiles into the room, falling to the floor hard enough that Stiles hears the bang of her knees. She throws her arms around Jackson’s shoulders, pulling him close, one hand cradling the back of his head. His arms go around her and he holds on for a long moment, and Stiles catches the flash of anguish in his expression, naked and raw before Jackson manages to bring himself under control.

Jackson’s gaze locks on Stiles, still standing in the doorway. “Stilinski.”

“Yes, dickwad, we’re here to rescue your ass, so you might as well just deal with it.” Stiles moves slowly, wary of Jackson’s eyes and claws. He’s half-changed and probably feral. “How hungry are you? I mean, do I need to worry about you taking a chunk out of either of us because you can’t wait for us to get you some McD’s?”

Jackson grins sharply. “I won’t bite Lydia.”

“Hah.” Stiles hears the implied threat clearly. “You won’t bite me either if you want a ride home. Our only transport is the Jeep, which means you need me to drive.”

Lydia wedges one shoulder under Jackson and starts to stand; he stumbles forward, falling onto his hands and knees. “He’s weak,” she snaps. “Come help me.”

“I don’t need anyone’s help,” Jackson mutters.

Stiles ignores him, wedging in on the other side, his arm around Jackson’s back. He can feel spine and ribs; he’s ridiculously thin and Stiles worries that maybe he should be worried about Jackson solving their too many people for one car problem by eating one. “You’re a kitten at the moment, not a wolf,” Stiles tells him. He glances at Lydia and they lift together, managing to get Jackson to his feet. “And we need to move as quickly as we can, so if that means you lean on me, then you do so. Or I’ll leave you here so the hunters can torture you some more.”

Jackson grunts, which Stiles takes as a _get me out of here now_ and they start moving forward.

It’s slow going, but again, it’s _easy_. They make their way through the basement and up, emerging into the light where they can look at Jackson’s haggard features, and worry about whether he’ll even make it home. “You look like shit,” Stiles says.

Jackson glares. “It’s still an improvement over your ugly face.”

“Boys!” Lydia’s tone is sharp. “In the car. _Now_.”

Braeden slides out as they shove Jackson into the middle of the back seat. There’s barely room for Lydia to squeeze in on one side while Kira takes the other, and Malia climbs into the front seat. Scott waves from the back of Braeden’s motorcycle and they roar off as Stiles kicks the Jeep to life.

He sees the hunters at the door as he pulls away, and he swears the old one is smiling.

_Smiling_.

It makes him wonder what trap they’ve fallen into by taking Jackson.

#

At the border they are thoroughly searched for contraband, but the authorities find nothing other than a violation of the number of passengers in the car. They chastise Stiles and give him a warning, but since both Jackson and Derek are unconscious by then, they let it go.

#

Stiles stops at a rest stop about halfway home, and climbs out to stretch. The girls head inside in a cluster, leaving Stiles alone with the unconscious teenage Derek and a very tired Jackson. He sighs, and resigns himself to the position of helping. “Do you need to pee? I can get you out of the car and into the—”

“I do not need your help to _pee_ ,” Jackson snarls. “If I needed your help—”

“You obviously needed my help to escape, but we’re not expecting anything for that, are we?” Stiles snaps back. “Have you even said thank you to Lydia? Your ex-girlfriend, love of your life, woman you abandoned when you took off for London… and speaking of that, what the fuck are you doing in Mexico? How did you get caught by _hunters_? And why the _hell_ did they want us to rescue you?”

“They had me locked in a tiny room and haven’t fed me for a week!” Jackson shouts. “In what insane world is that them _wanting_ me to be rescued?”

“They let us get in and get out,” Stiles says flatly. “It was a bad plan and it worked, which means they wanted it to work. So yeah, they might have been starving you beforehand, but the moment we showed up, they played us. Or they were waiting for us, which is possible since we were after Derek originally.”

“Who is an unconscious teenager.” Jackson’s expression falters. “What the fuck have you gotten into _now_ , Stilinski?”

“I’m not the one who was a homicidal lizard,” Stiles mutters.

“No, you were a homicidal _fox_ ,” Jackson shoots back. He shifts in his seat, and finally reaches for Stiles. “And yes. I have to pee. Get me into the damned bathroom.”

#

They drop off Kira and Malia, then they take Derek to Deaton. Stiles doesn’t like that Lydia’s staying with him, but Scott has a point: Jackson’s still in the car. Scott helps Stiles get Jackson up to his room, and pats Stiles on the shoulder with a _good luck, bro_ , then Stiles is stuck alone with the asshole.

Who is sitting on the edge of his bed, looking like he’s going to pass out.

“Need more food?” Stiles isn’t sure what to do here. He doesn’t know how he’s going to explain to his father why _Jackson Whittemore_ is in his bedroom. 

Jackson hunches over. “I want to know what they did to me. Why they lumped me in with Kate and Derek and why the fuck they wanted you to take me. I want to know if they’re _controlling_ me.”

Those words hit Stiles like a punch to the gut, because he knows _exactly_ what Jackson is thinking. He may not be a kanima anymore, but what if he’s still controllable? What does that mean for Jackson? Or for Kate? And the worst part of it is, Stiles knows exactly how that feels.

He sinks down onto the edge of the bed next to him, not reaching out other than his knee bumping against Jackson’s. “Dude, we brought you back from the dead and Lydia saved your kanima ass. They brought me back from the dark side. Do you really think we’re going to let another one of our pack be controlled? We’ve got enough problems with people _outside_ of our pack.”

Jackson curls his lip in a rough sneer. “I don’t have an anchor in your pack.”

“Our pack.” Stiles nudges him. “You’re Derek’s first beta, and that means we’re stuck with you. I’ve even managed to convince Malia that you’re pack already.”

Jackson furrows his brow. “What’s with Malia?”

“Were-coyote, spent more than half her life in her animal form, might have eaten parts of her family after a car crash.” Stiles shrugs one shoulder. “She’s a work in progress. She also spends most nights in my bed and she bites when she’s being affectionate, which is _not_ what I expected out of my life right now. We do _not_ have a normal pack here, dude. You’ll fit right in.”

“And the hunters?”

Stiles doesn’t really have an answer for that. He’s pretty sure there’s something he’s still missing, but at the same time, he’s not sure it’s something he has enough information to figure out yet. “If it comes up, we’ll deal with it then. I need to do some research and find out more about kanima, and ex-kanima, and were-jaguars, and everything in between. There’s an answer out there, and it might even have to do with the Calaveras themselves. In the meantime, I’m ordering pizza, and you’re eating. And when Derek’s back to being himself, maybe he’ll have more information, too.” He nudges Jackson again, pushing harder. “Lie down, I’ll get food. You rest.”

Jackson falls backward onto the bed and Stiles steps out. By the time he comes back in a half hour with the pizza, Jackson is curled tight and asleep. Stiles leaves a box of pizza on the nightstand and settles into the desk chair, leaning back and letting himself relax.

_Do we have a kanima or a wolf?_

He reads the text off his phone and sighs. “Scotty, what we’ve probably got is trouble, but you don’t want to know that. Not when you’re dealing with Derek first.” Stiles types slowly, and presses send when he’s done.

_What we’ve got is Jackson, and he needs us as much as teen-Derek does. He’s pack, and we’ll take care of him. Just like we always do._

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me [on tumblr](http://tryslora.tumblr.com)! I will be reblogging the prompt post periodically throughout season 4.


End file.
